Tuesday, August 28, 2012

September Beginnings


September is FABULOUS!! I know its not hear yet, but it is peeking just around the corner. The boys are settled into their home-school routine now. Izzy is starting a preschool curriculum and my teen is now in 10th grade. It has been a very smooth transition.

I am really happy to see the weather beginning to cool off a bit, too. Those 100+ degree days do not make yarn appealing. And I love yarn!

September is also when my planning stages for holiday gifts begin. When it is too hot for crocheting I get my fix by thumbing through idea books and websites to see what I want to make for family and friends. I look at decor ideas for projects. Pinterest is dangerous!

Happy end of August!
Mel


Monday, August 27, 2012

Fitting Crochet In My Day

I can't crochet in a state of disarray. I am not the neatest person around. But, if there is clutter or a huge to do list it makes my ADD itch. I cannot relax and enjoy my work at all.

Some things that have to be handled before I can enjoy crochet:

  • My nails have to be nice. If they are chippy they snag my yarn. And if the paint is chipped I feel frumpy and it bugs me. Hence, my weekly nail posts. 
  • My house has to be picked up and NO dishes in the sink. It kills my ADD to be surrounded by clutter . 
  • I have to have exercised. I can't enjoy my yarn if I feel sedentary. 
  • I have to have dinner planned. Preferably in a crockpot already. It is unfailing that if I sit down to crochet I will get TOTALLY into my project, excited to see how it will turn out, have a tricky pattern that I have just gotten in stride...and someone will say they are hungry. Or..."whats for dinner?".


I have a morning routine, a home-school schedule, a night time routine and a handful of odds and ends that are scheduled each day of the week. All of these are entered in my google calendar and message is sent to my phone when its time for me to do something. If I want a big window of time to work I just peek at my calendar and get everything done all at once in the morning. Its a breeze and takes a huge load off of my mind. 

I also love online timers!

There are a few things that make sure to do each day that guarantees the next day will be a good day.
  • Meditate
  • Yoga before bed
  • Get to bed by midnight
  • Pack lunches the night before while I am preparing dinner
  • Start the next mornings load of laundry before bed
  • Run the dishwasher -My oldest knows to unload it in the morning if the "clean" light is on.
  • Clean out my purse. 
  • Always keep my keys in my purse -EVERYTIME. 
  • Protein shake before bed -It makes me feel better the next morning no matter how early I rise.
  • Wash my face and moisturize before bed -It helps to wake up feeling your prettiest.
I wish you many many awesome morning!

Here is a little something from my trip to Target this afternoon. 






Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Wrist Bling Swap!

I had the best time making a bracelet to swap Michellesque (her blog here). It was so fun getting to meet her and hear about her. Swaps are awesome!!!

And look what she sent me!!!



Thank you Yellow Heart Art for bringing the fun!


Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Farewell...for just a little bit longer

I have been missing in action. But, I have great excuses!

My craft is yarn and its been about 110 degrees here everyday. The idea of grabbing yarn is unappealing. Even cotton. Even bamboo. I pretty much just want to sit in a baby pool and be ladled!

My second excuse is way more fun...we are taking a family road trip to Texas. Leaving in about an hour. All the details have taken a lot of time and effort. But, the car is beautifully packed. Snacks and toys and clothes and I grabbed an umbrella stroller for Izzy.

Happy week to you all! I have some posts scheduled to pop while I am gone.

Mel

Monday, August 6, 2012

Happy Monday

It is a typical Monday...the husband is back to work and I have been cleaning the weekend off of my house all morning. It was a really great weekend...I spent lots of downtime with my husband and crocheted a lotus cuff bracelet!

 Here it is on...HERE is where I got the pattern. :)
 Then I headed outside and harvested the lavender to dry it and picked my latest batch of cherry tomatoes! mmmmm
 But, its Monday now. The husband is back to work, the cleaning is done and the baby is down for his name. I rented Mirror, Mirror at the Redbox, so I am going to crochet a hat while I watch and devour a huge bowl of cherries for lunch!


How is your Monday going?

Thursday, August 2, 2012

The Making of Spiderman (Crochet Hat)

Collect your Supplies! Bright Red and Soft White are "Red Heart Super Saver" and the Blue and Black are "Impeccable"

 Make a swatch...I don't always, but with hats I have to. Its amazing how much a different a knot can turn out with a different brand of hook, a different brand of yarn and a different set of hands.
 My swatch was 12 stitches wide and four rows high...it measured 4" wide and 2" tall. So to make my 20" wide and 8" deep (toddler size to fit up until they are about 5 years old) I would need it to be 60 stitches wide and 16 rows deep.
So I made a simple beanie. HDCs.
SLIP STITCH into the first stitch of that row and chain twice.
I hook
Worsted Weight Yarn (This is Red Heart Super Saver...it holds up well to being decorated)
Increase: Means to HDC two times in one stitch



Row 1:In a Magic Circle I crocheted 9 HDC. Then I cinched closed my magic circle. (9)
Row 2:HDC two times in each stitch (18)
Row 3:HDC around, increasing every other stitch (27)
Row 4:HDC around, increasing in every 3rd stitch (36)
Row 5:HDC around, increasing in every 4th stitch (45)
Row 6:HDC around (no increases on this row) (45)
Row 7:HDC around, increasing in every 5th stitch (54)
Row 8:HDC around, increasing in every 6th stitch (63)
Row 9-16:HDC around (63)
Fasten off. It should like the picture above. :) Minus the cute toddler. Unless you happen to have one, too.
 Attach the blue yarn. Single Crochet all around for one row. Fasten off.
 When you are crocheting with a new color...crochet over the tails that have been fastened off. It makes it much neater when you snip ends.
 Make an eye. This is the right one. I wanted it to be 1/5th as wide as the hat but my teenager says its a little too wide. Feel free to make yours a little smaller. But this is how I did it! :D

Single crochets...7 rows.

Chain 21.
Row 1:Single crochet in the second chain from hook and continue across (20), chain 1 and turn
Row 2:SC in the first stitch and the next 17 across (18), chain 1 and turn
Row 3:skip one stitch and SC in the next 16 stitches (16), chain 1 and turn
Row 4:SC in the first stitch and the next 14 stitches (15), chain 1 and turn
Row 5:skip the first stitch and SC in the next 13 stitches (13), chain 1 and turn
Row 6:skip the first stitch and SC in the next 11 stitches (11), chain 1 and turn
Row 7:SC in the first 10 stitches and Fasten off. (10)

Make another one for the other side. I made them the same and just used the flip side of one.

And here is a chart. I like to make them to simplify.


 The eyeliner. I wanted heavy eyeliner without making the already large eyes too much larger. So I Spike Single Crocheted all around. If you havent done this, its VERY simple. Instead of stiching into the row below thew one you are working on like you normally would, you insert your hook two rows down. That makes for a wider stitch without adding much more width and a fun spiking effect. At each of the four corners of the eyes SC three times in the same stitch. Fasten off and leave a looooong tail. This will be what you sew the eyes on with.
 Sew on the eyes using a yarn needle.
 Use a yarn needle to sew on teh webs.
 And here it is!

I love constructive critisizm. So, have asked everyone that has seen the hat what they think. So far only my teenager has noted changes that I should make. The eyes should be smaller. I will be trying again very soon. But, until then...here is how I feel about critisizm.
 Mow the lawn...wash the car...Watch your brother. LOL
Haha...just kidding. No punishment for honesty around here. It was just chore day. He is happily playing videogames right now as I type. No teenagers were harmed in the making of my hat.

Nectresse Review

It might seem unrelated...but without coffee there would be no crochet for me. I have had to pull many a crochet-all-nighter to figure some patterns out and fill orders at the holidays. So, a new artificial sweetener...totally craft related!


I was at Target last night and saw this box near the bags of sugar (my teenager requested it...he is big on tea and baking). I had to try it!

The price: not so great. 40 packets for $3.99
The taste: DARN good. It has a sliiiight "truvia" bite to it but much less aftertaste. And the aftertaste is kind of nice, mellow. My coffee is not bitter. Just *sips* sweet.

In defense of the price...its brand new. I guess it was announced earlier this year and just released last week in July. AND it only took one packet to sweeten my coffee. It usually takes two packets of anything else. So I would suggest you give it a try!


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